Blogs

The Cardinals were in pads Friday afternoon, but considering they have to practice in pads again first thing in the morning — the Red-White practice starts at 9:15 a.m. — it wasn’t all that surprising to see them stop about 4:45, or 30 minutes earlier than scheduled. There were some nice plays, but mostly, that intensity that had carried through the week seemed to have dissipated a little bit. The players I am sure are tired. I would guess it’ll be ramped up by the end of tomorrow’s work, but that is tomorrow.

— Linebacker Stevie Baggs looked very good this afternoon. The former CFL star is still running third-team, but he still believes he has a shot. The way he looked today, I will say I am interested to see what he can do in a preseason game.

— Cornerback Trumaine McBride was out in the afternoon with a groin injury, so suddenly it makes a little more sense why the Cards were running so many corners through the first team during the morning workout.

— Quarterback Matt Leinart followed up a good day of practice yesterday with another pretty good day. There was a bomb to Steve Breaston that was broken up by safety Kerry Rhodes when it looked like Leinart could have thrown it a tad earlier (Breaston had to slow down at the end to try and make a catch). But Leinart did hit Larry Fitzgerald on a nice pass to beat DRC (although it was tough not to notice Fitz’s subtle push off on DRC. The official — in town for the practice tomorrow — didn’t flag Fitz. DBs coach Donnie Henderson wasn’t thrilled about that). At this point, I think Leinart has separated himself from Derek Anderson. Then again, I think games mean more than practice and we’ll see what happens starting a week from tomorrow.

— I don’t know what is up with WR Early Doucet, but for the second straight day he didn’t do much in the afternoon even though he is out there and in uniform. Doucet did go down early in Wednesday night’s practice — for a moment, it felt like an “Uh oh …” kind of thing, but he returned. It did look like he banged up his knee a little that night; maybe they are just being cautious. I don’t know. And again, I am speculating.

— Last thing. While linebacker Joey Porter and defensive tackle Bryan Robinson took another veteran day off, wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald continues to look very good. I know Fitz hasn’t been in the league as much as some of these other guys, but as a superstar, you could see where maybe they’d at least slow him down. Nope. He seems to be taking all the reps he normally would, and doing it at a high level.

32 Responses
to “A full afternoon, yet shorter”

Darren,
What are the rules if any for tomorrow’s signings (other than 12 & under)? Will they sign footballs, jerseys, …? Thank you for your help. And any other valuable info that will be helpful to make it as smooth as possible (our 1st yr going).
Thanks again,
Mike

I’m excited about Leesh. I saw the wild card game on NFL Replay a couple weeks ago, and in the three times Larod touched the ball, he got a first down. I mean, three first downs in three touches is pretty impressive to me. One of his other potential touches was a bit over his head, heh, but still. He looked good. He broke several tackles, and near the goal line preventing I believe a 4th and 1 at the 2 yard line or so, he spun out and was like WHAM BAM!

Anyway, Darren, a couple questions.

Is Larod even getting a look at punt returns, or do they not feel like that’s a possibility for him?

How has Jorrick Calvin looked in his very limited (assuming) reps at the position?

Do you agree with Kent Somers (don’t worry, he’s a generic you) when he said that he’d be surprised if Dan Williams isn’t starting game 1, why or why not?

Do you actually believe that DRC is only at around 85%?

Which player out of all the positions looks the most dominant in camp?

And finally, was Ben Graham not voted into the Pro Bowl last year because of his nationality? I cannot think of a reason other than bigotry. He totally deserved it.

Man I love Larry!!! He is gonna be a card for life. I know it. I think he just really wants to be here. Even before we were doin good he put it all on the line for the team every game. I think he wants to stay and be a part of the success and help bring home the trophy. He will be our very own Jerry Rice.

Heck….. He already beat the legend’s post season record that stood for what……20 years?!?!?! And that was his first appearance!!! No doubt he his a special player. But his heart, passion for the sport and his love for our team…. Can we say future Hall o fame!!!!!

Also Leinart’s Presser on the 5th. I really like the confidence and excitement it was very nice to see. I love to hear he is stepping up in practice man. I knew he would get the guys to trust and care about him. Oh and good call with Hawaii Matt!!! Can I come next year???

You autograph ppl make me sick. I seriously can’t stand when you weirdos ask questions about autographs. Seriously your a grown man and your gona go ask another grown man (whose likely younger than you) for him to write his name on a piece of merchandise??! So bizarre. Get a life ppl. Real football fans dont give a damn about autographs. 12 and under is the best rule ever. All you dudes living in your moms house pushing aside little kids trying to get autographs are basically as lame as they come.

I sure hope everything is good with Early. Everybody knows he hasn’t been able to get out of Flagstaff without getting hurt the past two seasons. We are scary thin at a couple positions already, if something were to happen to Early again, well then we would be scary thin at WR as well. At the same time i understand a lot of teams deal with these kind of issues at camp, it’s just a bit concerning. Have u heard anything more about it since practice ended Urb? Thank you for the continued coverage, u do a great job…Birdgang nation is very appreciative.

darren, im heading to the red and white in flag tomarrow. forcast says it looks like its going to rain . how will that effect the practice and the whole red and white session? if you know please reply thanks

In earlier posts you have always said Baggs is a long shot. Being up in Canada I naturally see a lot of CFL games. I’ve always maintained that Baggs will make the Cards and I’m happy to see you even slightly re-assessing your earlier opinions. He is a great pass rusher and I’m sure the Cards will be able to utilize his talents.

thanks for posting this, since Ive been asking questions about this player since I found out we got him. from what I saw in CFL games last year he has good outside speed, and a quick spin… i hope this translates ithrew Preseason and into his NFL play.

For what it’s worth at this point, It’s good to hear that Leinart seems to be separating himself from Anderson. I just don’t have a real good feeling about Anderson and the thought of the team needing to rely on him as “the” guy. I really want to Matt to step forward this year and become the QB of this team for the next chapter. If Anderson is in, it’s either because Leinart is hurt or truly flamed out. Either way, it’s probably bad news. And like so many other thoughts I’ve had, I’ll be very happy to be wrong about Anderson! But I’d rather be right about Leinart. I truly believe he is going to prove a lot of people wrong this year.

Darren, I don’t know what is up with Early either. When the cards drafted him in the 3rd a couple of years ago, I thought to myself that he could be Q clone. Unfortunately, he has been on the injury front. I would just be a shame to see all of that talent go to waste by being in the training room all of the time. especially when he has guys behind him that are more than willing to take his spot.